Strategic Roadmap Needed to Address Sanitation Condition – Minister

Mr Kofi Adda, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, says a strategic roadmap is required to address sanitation conditions in the country.

« The Ministry is a new one and things cannot happen overnight, but in order to have everything right systematically, there is the need for a strategic road map, » he said.

To this end, Mr Adda has called for an urgent consultancy and advocacy work with stakeholders to help bridge the gap of attitudinal change and transformation among the citizenry.

« The time is right for all to make that change, we will ensure we deliver services and get attitudinal transformation ongoing, » Mr Adda said in Accra on Wednesday when a delegation from Rotary Club paid a courtesy call on him.

The visit formed part of the delegation’s agenda to introduce its five-year Water and Sanitation Project, aimed at improving sanitation conditions in the country.

Being the second phase of a previous initiative, dubbed: « Rotary International-USAID Partnership, » which spanned 2009-2015, the latter is seeking to champion advocacy works from 2015 and expected to end in 2020.

The four-million-dollar collaborative project between Rotary International and USAID would focus on six regions and 13 districts.

Mr Adda expressed excitement at the Rotarians’ support to help promote the sector.

He commended them for their interest in the improvement of the citizen’s livelihood, which, he said, was in line with the President’s clear initiative emerging from concerns of Ghanaians.

« The President has identified these challenges and working on them effectively hence the fight against ‘galamsey’ and the establishment of the Sanitation Ministry, » he said.

Mr Ako Odotei, the Chairman of the Host Committee of the Rotary International USAID Water Sanitation Project, said the primary aspect of the second phase of the project was to work closely with government through advocacy.

He called on the Minister to support them on their advocacy agenda for better sanitary conditions not only in the cities but the towns, villages and districts as a whole.

Dr Naan Agyemang-Mensah, the Lead Advocacy of the Host Organising Committee for the Rotary-USAID Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Collaboration, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the staff would be trained, retrained, monitored and supported in their activities to ensure sustainability of the project.

She noted that continuous training and monitoring were incapacitated by lack of mobility where in many cases water and sanitation were not priorities and even WASH was not making progress, but the time had come for advocacy to make a difference through Rotary.

Dr Agyemang-Mensah said a collective mobilization of resources by the assemblies as well as Internally Generated Fund being raised by community members was one of the sure ways to go.

On the expected results, she said there was the need for expansion of services and rehabilitation with the help from the Ministries of Health, education and Finance.

She called on the Water Resources and Sanitation Minster to help ensure that the funds reached the correct recipients.

Mr Samuel Awuku Okudzeto, a Senior Statesman and a Rotarian, said Rotary needed advocacy in this project and called on the Satiation Minister to relate with them well to help improve sanitation conditions.